Have you ever heard your child say, "I can't do this?" Have you ever felt that way too? What can you do to help your child? Teach them about "growth mindset". All next week, we are going to focus on how to have a growth mindset at school!

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” ( Dweck, 2015)

The opposite is a fixed mindset. This means that we believe that no matter how hard we try we have a fixed capacity to learn. Think of this statement, "I'm just not good at math." You've probably heard people say that and maybe even thought that way about yourself. People that feel this way feel they are born with a certain ability and no matter how hard they try, they will never learn beyond that limit.

A broad body of research has shown that what kids believe about their own intelligence can affect their effort, engagement, motivation, and achievement in school.

How can we nurture a growth mindset attitude in our children?

Check out the resource below for some tips.

As a building, we have committed to a nightly reading requirement each night for all kids K-5th. It seems like a little thing but it means a whole lot to your child. Take a minute to read the info graphic below. If you and your family committs to this every night, the educational benefits are staggering! Read the info graphic below for an easy way to connect why we are helping our kids!

We are so excited to share our good news. We were able to book "Guys and Dolls" in Mt. Pleasant for our "picture day" again this year! The process may be a little different than what you are used to.

1. The good news is you don't have to fill out any order form before the pictures!! Hooray! They will come to the school and take pictures of everyone on September 26th.
2. About two weeks later you will get an email with a link to your child's pictures. You will be able to see them and order all kinds of things. You can order pictures, mugs, key chains, a disk with a digital image of the picture, etc. We will have two weeks to order.
3. After the two week order deadline, everything will be delivered here to the school for free.
4. If you decide later to order more things, you can have access to your child's pictures and have them shipped to your house!

If you have questions about our picture day, please feel free to reach out to us here at school or call "Guys and Dolls" directly at (989)772-2167.

Spirit Week is a special tradition at Winn each year. We have five fun days for students & staff to participate in next week. We ask that you be mindful as you plan your child's outfits each day. We want to have fun but we also want to be able to learn. :) If your child chooses to wear paint on Friday, we ask that it not be full face paint or lots of color on their hair. Save the big color for the BIG GAME against Harrison! Thanks for your help!

This week, we hosted the Shepherd Board of Education at Winn. We were able to celebrate all of the people that worked so hard on getting our building ready this past summer. We shared a video of the building and how it changed over time. We hope you enjoy the video!

Each day, teachers and students can give others special "shout outs" for following our Winn Promise and being a good human! I read them during morning opening each day. Have you heard a good story at your home about something that a student or adult did for your child? Give them a special shout out by filling out this form! Thanks for taking a moment to say thank you to all the hard working staff at Winn Elementary!

9/29/23 Homecoming Parade - Winn students represent our school! Come walk in the parade!

9/29/23 Homecoming Game Harrison vs. Shepherd!

10/5 Conferences 4-7pm

10/6 No School for Students. Conferences 8-11am, 12-3pm

10/7 Fall Fest 1-5 pm

11/1 1/2 of school for students

11/22-24 Thanksgiving Break

12/22-1/2 No School Holiday Break

We appreciate all of the kindness and grace that has been offered to us as we open the new building. Thank you for sharing your child with our family here at Winn. We are so happy to be able to open our new doors to our students and families. If your family needs help in any way please reach out. My door is always open for our families.

Email: lrichards@shepherdschools.net
Location: 380 West Blanchard Road, Shepherd, MI, USA
Phone: (989) 866-2250
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winnelementary